BY ALEX. MORTON. 121 



the aunals of Tasmaoiau science wbicli for many years was 

 honoured in all the colonies as that of a niau with a rare 

 devotion to duty, a great amount of knowledge, which was 

 always at the service of even tlie huoablest votary of his 

 beloved science, and a modesty and simplicity of life suffi- 

 ciently uncommon as to be remarkable. All the scientific 

 societies in Australasia ow:; much to his faithful work. The 

 volume for 1853 contains the first of a large number of 

 papers by Dr. Milligan on the Aborigines of Tasmania, their 

 number, their traditions, and their language. 



Dr. Ericbsen contributes a paper on the insect fauna of 

 Tasmania, which has particular reference to the geographical 

 distribution of insects. 



Mr. Morton Allport was one of the untiring workers 

 whom the Society had the good fortune to number among its 

 members. In all, he wrote 24 papers on various subjects, 

 and was one of the most enthusiastic among those who 

 believed that the introduction of the Salmonide into Tas- 

 manian waters could be accomplished, and that it would be a 

 great advantage to the colony when that had been done. 

 His death, at the comparatively ea,rly age of 46, deprived 

 Tasmania of a good citizen, and the Koyal Society of one of 

 its most faithful and persevering friends. 



Various contributions to our knowledge of Tasmanian 

 Botany appear under the name of Dr. Mueller, The coal 

 seams were at this time beginning to be worked with great 

 zeal, but unfortunately with little knowledge, and the result 

 was in many cases disappointing. The history of a new 

 country always contains the record of many mistakes, and 

 they are not only in the region of science and manufacture. 

 Among papers of interest further afield may be mentioned 

 one on the census in the United States, which is full of facts 

 collated in a charming manner, and one by Dr. Carpenter, 

 read at the Royal Society of Great Britain, on the influence 

 of suggestion in modifying and directing movements inde- 

 pendently of the will. The vast subject of hypnotic 

 suggestion, was eveu then, receiving the attention of medical 

 students, and as a science does not seem to have advanced 

 much since that time. 



The new and fascinating method of taking sun pictures 

 was the cause of a thoughtful paper on the subject, lu which 

 the process was explained with a clearness that must have 

 started many an experimenter in the island on the path of 

 the amateur photographer. 



The vexed question whetiier the Desmidiacie were really 

 belonging to the animal or vegetable kingdom, is diec issed 



